Bensonhurst Man Finds 1950s-Era Emmy Award In Trash, Now Searches For Owner

Did you or a loved one win an Emmy award 60 years ago and somehow misplace the prestigious award for television programming?

Well, someone found it, and he’s looking to reunite it with its proper owner.

Ismael Cekic was walking down 28th Avenue when he saw the iconic statuette poking out the top of a box in someone’s trash.

“This thing sticking out looked so cool. I dusted it off and I’ll take this home,” Cekic told CBS news.

He took it home, not realizing what it was other than a really cool looking statute. He didn’t make the connection until he was watching the 2013 awards show with his wife.

The New York Post reports:

A few weeks later, as Cekic and wife Tonimarie were watching the 2013 Emmys on TV, he realized the awards show statuette looked just like the one now sitting in his living room.

“It’s definitely the real deal,” a source familiar with the venerable award told The Post after looking at a detailed photo of Cekic’s find.

“It’s very old — likely from the Ed Sullvan era in the 1950s.” The Emmy was issued by the New York-based arm of the awards, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).

The statuette is missing the gold band at its base that would have identified the awardee.

Now he’s looking for the award winner’s family.

“I would really like to just get it back to the family that it belongs to,” Cekic told The Post.

“It might be an heirloom that has been forgotten. And as an artist I just think it needs to go back to the original owner or their relations.”

The son of the now-deceased former owners of the home where Cekic said the Emmy had been tossed said Friday the award did not belong to anyone in his family, and he’d never seen the statuette.

Until he finds the owners, Cekic is keeping this cool find on his coffee table, and we’ll continue to think how awesome Cekic is that he took the time to try and find the owner.